After his post-game news conference, Canadiens coach Claude Julien smiled and told the media members with a big smile: “You get to go to church.”

Julien has a lot to be smiling about after the Canadiens extended their season-high winning streak to five games, during which they have outscored the opposition 24-6, including 16 goals in back-to-back wins over the Red Wings. The Canadiens beat the Red Wings 6-3 Thursday night in Detroit.

For the first time this season, the Canadiens (13-12-3) are now above .500 after starting out 1-6-1 in their first eight games and 2-7-1 in their first 10.

Saturday night’s win put the Canadiens in the third and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins (12-8-4), who hold four games in hand. The Canadiens also moved within six points of the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs (17-10-1) in the division.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price earned his fifth straight victory since returning from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for 10 games. Since returning from the injury, Price has a 5-0-0 record with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage, improving his season record to 8-7-1 with a 2.94 GAA and .905 save percentage.

“The way we’ve played lately is more of what we can do and are able to do and what we want to do because it’s given us the success right now that we’re looking for,” Julien said during his post-game news conference Saturday night. “We’re a good skating team and all we got to do is play smart. I thought these last two games against a team that has been pretty good and can really stretch teams out … I thought we handled that really well. Our gaps were good, our back-checking and that kind of stuff. And because we did that so well, we were turning pucks over and our transition game was good.

“So you hope that you can kind of build on these kind of games that we’ve played lately,” the coach added. “And even Columbus, it’s a 2-1 hockey game (the Canadiens actually won last Monday’s game 3-1 over the Blue Jackets with an empty-net goal). You got to be able to play in those tight games. I thought we did a good job of that, too. So hopefully it’s an identity that’s starting to show and that we can take pride in.”

The Canadiens are back in action Tuesday night when the St. Louis Blues visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio 690). The Blues (17-8-2) are on a three-game losing streak after dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to the Wild Saturday in Minnesota and have lost four of their last five games.

Oilers claim Davidson on waivers

The Edmonton Oilers have claimed defenceman Brandon Davidson off waivers from the Canadiens.

The Canadiens placed Davidson on waivers Saturday after he had one assist and was minus-3 in 13 games. The Canadiens acquired the 26-year-old from the Oilers at last season’s NHL trade deadline in exchange for David Desharnais, who is now with the New York Rangers and has 3-9-12 totals in 23 games this season.

The Oilers selected Davidson in the sixth round (162nd overall) at the 2010 NHL Draft.

First NHL hat-trick for Byron

Paul Byron was presented with three souvenir pucks in the Canadiens’ locker room after Saturday’s game after scoring three goals. When asked when was the last time he had a hat-trick, Byron replied: “Probably junior. I don’t think I even got one in the American league.”

Surprisingly, there was only one hat and one tuque thrown on the ice at the Bell Centre after Byron completed his hat-trick.

Byron’s three goals give him nine for the season and puts him on pace for 26 goals, which would beat his career-best of 22 set last season.

“Now I think everything’s starting to go a little bit better for the team,” Byron said. “Guys are staying with it, we’re all working hard, we all have a belief that we can make the playoffs and we’re a good hockey team. So no matter what anybody says outside that room, that’s what we believe and until that last game of the year no one’s going to change that opinion for us.”

Byron could have even more goals this season, having missed on a number of breakaways. But he made no mistake on his two breakaway goals Saturday night, going high to the glove side with a gorgeous wrist shot for his first goal and then making a nice backhand-to-forehand move for his second goal.

Byron admitted he had become a little frustrated with his lack of success on breakaways.

“A little bit,” he said. “It’s a two-sided coin. You do something so well to create the chance or do something to get the opportunity. But you just can’t beat the goalie or you can’t get the shot off you wanted exactly. You start to doubt yourself, you start to overthink it, you start maybe trying new things that maybe you wouldn’t normally do. So to see them finally go in definitely gives you more confidence. It’s not like I go looking for them (breakaways) they just seem to happen for me.”

Byron said he knew he was going to shoot high to the glove side on his first breakaway goal Saturday, something he had worked on in practice.

“I’ve had the chance to beat Carey on a couple like that (in practice),” Byron said. “So any time you’re practising against him and you can beat him with a shot, you know it can work.”

Long scoring droughts end

When Nicolas Deslauriers scored the Canadiens’ second goal in the first period Saturday night it ended a 60-game goal-less drought for him dating back to March 18, 2016 when he was with the Buffalo Sabres and scored against the Ottawa Senators. Deslauriers also had two assists and finished Saturday’s game plus-4.

When Jacob de la Rose scored the Canadiens’ fourth goal while short-handed in the second period it ended a 49-game goal-less drought for him dating back to April 11, 2015 when he scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Deslauriers assisted on the goal with a beautiful setup that left de la Rose with an empty net. De la Rose also had two assists and was plus-4 Saturday. Heading into the game, De La Rose had 4-4-8 totals in 82 career NHL games.

Only four Canadiens skaters didn’t register a point against the Red Wings Saturday: captain Max Pacioretty and defencemen David Schlemko, Karl Alzner and Jeff Petry.

Carr sent back to Laval: report

Daniel Carr, called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket last Wednesday, had a goal and two assists Saturday night, giving him 1-3-4 totals in his first two games with the Canadiens. Carr had 12-7-19 totals in 20 games with the Rocket before getting called up.

The fourth line — with Carr, Byron Froese and Deslauriers — combined for eight points Saturday with Carr and Deslauriers both scoring and all three of them getting two assists.

After Saturday’s morning skate in Brossard, Julien was asked about the fourth line’s lack of production this season.

“Maybe they’re not producing as much as fourth lines of other teams right now, but they haven’t been together all year either,” Julien said. “We’ve had different players there. I think with time it’s going to come because I’ve seen them play some really solid games without getting points, but at least they were getting some opportunities. De la Rose I remember in Nashville had a great scoring chance. So it’s coming with that line. I think we’re getting closer to what we want from the fourth line. Dependable, but also trying to give us some attack and at least some O-zone time.”

With Jonathan Drouin sidelined for the second straight game Saturday with a lower-body injury, de la Rose moved up to centre the No. 1 line between Byron and Alex Galchenyuk, who had four assists for the first four-point night of his career.

When Drouin returns to the lineup, there will be four players battling for a spot on the fourth line.

“We’ll have to make some tough decisions when he’s back and maybe we won’t,” Julien said after Saturday’s game. “We don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward here. Injuries are part of the game, so you go day by day with that.”

What a difference a game makes

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Canadiens ranked 29th in the NHL in offence, but 10 goals later they had moved up to 24th with an average of 2.75 goals per game. They also moved up from 23rd to 18th in defence, now allowing an average of 3.04 goals per game. The Canadiens now rank 19th on the power play (17.7 per cent) and 27th in penalty-killing (77.2 per cent).

What’s next?

The Canadiens will practise at 11 a.m. Monday in Brossard as they prepare to face the Blues Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. The Calgary Flames will visit the Bell Centre on Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio 690), followed by the Oilers and Davidson on Saturday (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690).

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